The bathroom cabinet industry generally uses metallic hinge assemblies for supporting the doors of the cabinets. These hinges are typically free swinging, i.e., the hinges are generally free of friction, such that the cabinet door is easily movable from the closed position to a fully opened position or at any other position. Unless the cabinet and door were perfectly mounted, i.e., with the door perfectly level, the force of gravity would cause the door to tend to either open or close (depending upon the balance of the door). Thus, prior art cabinets often required a catch or latch for holding the door in the closed position and/or some other type of movable device to hold the door in an open or partially open position. Moreover, all-metallic hinges typically have noise problems.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing a hinge system comprised of a non-metallic hinge pin which is expandable to provide a controlled amount of hinge friction for holding a cabinet door in any desired position of its swing, i.e., wherever a user positions the door, without the use of any catches or other additional components. Additionally, the noise problems associated with allmetallic hinges are overcome. The present invention is also useful in reducing instances of slamming of a cabinet door, thereby decreasing the likelihood of breakage of a door mirror.